PVCHR
welcome your visit to India. We are sharing grass – root experience about
access to water and sanitation to marginalized communities:

There is no proper
facility of the drinking water in ratio to the population to the marginalized
communities (Musahar ghetto, Muslim ghetto, urban Slums and other backward
communities) in one ghetto. For ex: In Ramaipur mushar basti of Pindra block of
Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh, India 26 family depends on one hand pump to meet
their needs. This hand pump gives contaminated water and people are
compelled to drink that water because there is no other source of drinking
water to them. After several complain no other action taken by the concerned
authorities. This is not only condition of one village but other villagers are
also facing the same problem. It is also noted that Dalit are facing discrimination
for access to water and sanitation facilities.

There is no any special plan for
providing safe drinking water to the people living in rocky area. For example
people of Raup Ghasiya basti in Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh,
India had to travel around 1 km every day to get water. They had to cross
the national highway. Many girls faced intimidation, sexual assault and were
stalked for the sexual advancement. Due to scarcity of water the people
of Ghasia Basti did not properly clean themselves. Due to which children faced
corporal punishment and caste based discrimination in the school. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oivRcR_NgII.
The Lodhi school’s principal told “These Ghasiya children come to
school late, come when they want to come, no matter how much we tell them to
come on time. Their main aim is to come and eat, not to study. Just see
how dirty they are. They don’t bathe, they don’t wear school uniform, and
they smell. When we ask them why they are so dirty, they say there is no water.
The problems of these children will never get solved. Their parents are
uneducated. We can’t mix these children with normal children because they are
spoiling them too. These children are not able to mix with others.”

Eight-year-old
Pankaj said, The teacher tells us to sit on the other side. If we
sit with others, she scolds us and asks us to sit separately. The
children from the other community don’t play with us or talk to us. The teacher
doesn’t sit with us because she says we are dirty. The other children also call
us dirty every day, so sometimes we get angry and hit them. We also sit
separately when eating. When we ask for food, the cook says ‘There’s no more
for you.’ But when the children from the other community ask, the cook says
‘Come and eat.’ If our plates touch the serving bowl by mistake, the cook gets
angry and abuses us. So we keep our plates at a distance when food is served.

There is no proper drainage
system in the ghetto of the marginalized communities due to which there is
water logging problem during rainy reason which generated lots of communicable
diseases.

This year there was grave flood
in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh, India, which effect life of poor’s
and marginalized http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/103-year-old-man-cremated-on-rooftop-in-flooded-varanasi-1449824. Situation
in Baghawanala Slum, where water from the Varuna river has entered a large part
of the slum, continued to be precarious, with people marooned in flooded
localities waiting for more relief material like food, medicine and water.
School building of Baghawanala children is also effected by flood. The
people were facing the serious health problem.

There is lack of public toilets
and urinal for the female in the rural and urban area. Availability
of Sanitary pads to girls and women from marginalized communities.

Lacking of sanitary facilities to
marginalized communities such as dalit, tribal and minorities is one of main
reasons behind malnutrition death.

Looking forward
right to water and sanitary facilities as realization for marginalized at grass
roots level in India particulars and world in general.